The new Criminal Courts Complex opened in January 2010 to critical acclaim

The new Criminal Courts Complex opened in January 2010 to critical acclaim. It is the most significant public building built in Dublin`s city centre over the past 100 years and was designed by Henry J Lyons Architects.

Before constructing this building, The Courts Service were required to carry out a "Part 8 Consultation" with Dublin City Council in relation to the proposal. Manahan Planners prepared the planning statement that accompanied this consultation.

The proposal was to move the criminal courts which were mainly in the Four Courts but also spread around a multitude of buildings around the city centre into a single purpose built building. This left the historic  Four Courts  building for civil and other cases.

One of the benefits of the new building is the segregation of the various parties. In the old building the accused and his family and friends sat squashed up against the Gardai, the victim, the witnesses, the baristers, the press and public. In the new building the accused are driven into a basement and bought up in a segregated circulation route to the court. Similarly jurors have their own circulation, their own restaurant as do the baristers, judges etc. The public and witnesses are equally separated. One outcome of this is that the press can no longer photograph the accussed entering and leaving the court